All newly registered Vendors and Affiliates must confirm their identity in order to maintain their business activities with CopeCart and receive payouts. This verification process, known as KYC (Know Your Client), is used to ensure that the user is a genuine person and to ensure that the business relationship is free from fraudulent intent.
The following documents are mandatory:
Identity card
Certificate from your tax office about your tax number (alternative: USt-IdNr)
Document confirming the bank account number (with user name and IBAN number)
Trade license (not for all, see section: "Notes and required documents")
As soon as you log in to CopeCart, you will receive a notification asking you to continue the validation process in order to receive payments.
We strongly recommend that you complete the validation process as soon as possible, as it may take some time. It is advisable to proceed with it in order not to have any delays in the processing of your payments.
If you do not see a notification, please go to the account settings, select the "account Settings" tab and fill in the details and your email address.
Add your account details and email address. Here you can also set your payment interval and the minimum payout amount. Please make sure that you have entered all the required data correctly and then click on the green button in the top right corner of your account to save your entries.
Next, click the "Start Verification Now" button, read the pop-up message and proceed with the verification:
Notes and required documents
Trader/ VAT liability
If you operate a business in Germany and are subject to VAT, such as partnerships, UG, GmbH or AG, you must have a VAT registration number (DE), document confirming the bank account number (with user name and IBAN number) and a trade license or an excerpt from the commercial register in order to sell products at CopeCart and receive your payouts.
If your business is located within the EU, you will need a VAT number (XX ...), document confirming the bank account number (with user name and IBAN number) and proof of your trade or business.
For companies outside the EU, no documents from the tax office are required. However, you must provide proof that your business or trade exists and document confirming the bank account number (with user name and IBAN number)
Small business in Germany (Kleinunternehmen)
If you are a small business you need:
a trade license,
document confirming the bank account number (with user name and IBAN number) and
a certificate from the tax office about the tax number.
Small business in Austria
If you are a small business owner in Austria, you need the following for validation:
a Gisa extract or extract from the trade register,
as well as your current tax number, under which you report your sales to the tax office.
If you do not have the above-mentioned extracts, please ask your tax office for confirmation of your tax number. This is usually an informal application that is automatically created for you and sent to you.
Users from Switzerland (Taxable sales and Small businesses)
You will need a business registration or an excerpt from the commercial register and a document confirming the bank account number for withdrawals (with your name and IBAN) to validate yourself. Please also enter your company identification number, also known as UID, in your account (e.g. CHE-123.456.789).
If you do not have a tax number, you can also verify yourself with your AHV number (see screenshot on the structure of the AHV number). However, it is essential that the user is classified as liable for VAT in accordance with Swiss law.
Important: For all users from Switzerland, regardless of whether they are small businesses or those obliged to pay VAT, the VAT regulation in the user account must be set to "Taxable Sales".
This is due to the fact that users from Switzerland receive payments from CopeCart in gross amounts. In this way, they can pay the applicable VAT rate to the Swiss tax office.
CopeCart handles and pays the VAT for the end customer in Switzerland, which is why the sale of products is gross. The user will then be paid 7.7% VAT on the credit note invoices.
Freelancers (Freiberuflichkeit)
If you work as a freelancer, we would like to ask you to provide suitable proof of your activity. This could be a university degree, a license or a certificate, for example.
Then select "Small business" or "Taxable sales" in your account, depending on the amount of your income.
In addition, we require a VAT identification number (UID) or proof from the tax office confirming your freelance status and VAT exemption for freelancers as well as a document confirming the bank account number for payments (with your name and IBAN).
If you have selected "Small business" in your account, you will receive your credits as net amounts. In this case, CopeCart will pay the corresponding VAT amounts directly to the relevant tax office for you.
On the other hand, if you have selected the "Taxable sales" setting in your account, you will receive your credit notes as gross amounts. You pay the corresponding tax amounts independently to the tax office responsible for you.
At this point, we would like to draw your attention to the applicable legal framework.
If you are unsure which setting applies to your situation, we recommend that you contact your tax advisor, as CopeCart is not permitted to provide tax advice.
Associations
A distinction is made here between so-called ideal associations and business associations. As a business association, you have the option of working with CopeCart.
Minors
Section 106 BGB applies to underage end customers. According to this, a minor who has reached the age of seven is limited in their legal capacity in accordance with Sections 107 to 113. Contracts concluded that go beyond "pocket money" are suspended and only become effective with parental consent. This also applies in principle to vendors.
Minors engaged in business (including vendors, if applicable) can make use of § 112 I and II BGB. According to this, there are two requirements for the operation of a trade by minors. In order to exercise an independent trade, they require the authorization of their legal representative, usually their parents, as well as the approval of the family court.
Notes for users from Spain and the Canary Islands
EU citizens must first have a NIE and if they become liable to pay tax in Spain, apply for a NIF at the relevant tax office.
NIE - Número de Identidad de Extranjero
NIF - Número de Identificación Fiscal
Proof: Agencia Estatal Tributaria (Vendor registered in Spain)
If you live in the Canary Islands, please select "Canary Islands" as the country setting in your account, not Spain.
Note that the validation must be updated once a year to make sure that all information is up-to-date and correct. Keep your information up to date to ensure smooth use of your CopeCart account.
Frequently asked questions about the validation process
How long does the validation take
The verification process is performed by CopeCart. We carefully check your documents and information and make sure that everything fits.
Usually this process takes about 48 hours on business days.
If some of your submitted documents are incorrect, poorly legible or missing, we will contact you and you will submit the documents directly to us. Please note that the validation process is not immediate and it may take some time to review your documents.
Important: Even after you have successfully completed all the required steps and provided all the documents, you will still see a validation notification in your account. This is completely normal and will remain so until our team verifies your account.
Once our support team is notified that a new user has been successfully verified, your account will be validated and you will be able to receive withdrawals.
The validation process does not start/ I cannot upload a selfie/ my camera does not work
Some CopeCart members may not be able to validate on their device. We ask you to run the validation again on another device. Please clear your cache and use another browser if you still can't start the validation. Open an incognito window and start the validation.
Freelancer without business - what documents are needed?
In this case, you will need your identity card and a tax registration document from the tax office to validate yourself. Please make the appropriate selection in your account, depending on the amount of your income. Decide between 'Small business' and 'Taxable sales'.
We are happy to have you on board! If you have any further questions, please contact our support team.
Best regards
Your CopeCart Team